THIS invention relates to a reusable knock down stillage box.
Reusable knock down boxes have been used for some time in the transportation of goods such as motor vehicle parts. In order to protect and secure the parts within the erected box, stillage and dunnage or padding is customarily used. When the empty boxes are transported back to their destination, one of the boxes is kept erected so as to contain bath its stillage and dunnage together with the stillage and dunnage associated with, say, ten other boxes which are collapsed. This practice has given rise to several problems. The loading of the individual stillage and dunnage elements associated with a large number of boxes into a single erected box involves additional labour, and makes it difficult to keep track of the individual stillage and dunnage elements. The elements associated with separate boxes tend to get muddled, and as a result do not tend to fit as comfortably together as they would if kept in their separate sets.
According to the invention there is provided a knock down stillage box comprising a base panel, a plurality of side walls, a top panel and stillage components for retaining cargo within the box, each of the side walls comprising a lower side wall panel extending from the base panel and an upper side wall panel, the upper side wall panels being movable between an erected cargo stowing position in which the stillage components are erected for stowing cargo within the box and a collapsed stillage stowing position in which the top panel and the upper side wall panels, in combination with the base panel and the lower side wall panels, provide a sub-box defining a closed sub-volume within which the stillage components are stowable in a collapsed condition.
In a preferred form of the invention, the base panel is rectangular and the box includes four side walls, with three of the lower side wall panels being hinged to three of the upper side wall panels, and being foldable into the collapsed position in which they provide a top for the sub-box, and a fourth operatively front upper side wall panel being separable from a fourth operatively front lower side wall panel to define an access opening for loading and unloading the box.
Conveniently, the fourth upper side wall panel is detachably mountable to the adjacent side wall panels by means of L-shaped clips.
Typically, the fourth lower side wall panel is hinged to the base panel, and is movable between a lowered position in which it constitutes a loading ramp and an upper position in which it is clipped to the adjacent lower side wall panels by means of L-shaped clips to provide the sub-box.
Advantageously, the top panel is detachably dipped to at least some of the side walls by means of L-shaped clips having free ends which locate within corresponding mounting slots formed towards the upper side wall edges, with corresponding mounting slots being formed in the lower side wall panels for receiving free ends of the L-shaped dips when the box is in the collapsed stillage stowing position.
The L-shaped clips may include drop-away clips carried on the top panel, the drop-away clips being detachably mountable to corresponding mounting slots defined in those opposed upper side wall panels defining end walls to allow the top panel to be xe2x80x9cpiggybackedxe2x80x9d onto the operatively rear upper side wall panel opposite the access opening when the rear upper side and end wall panels are in the erected position.
In one form of the invention, the top panel is hinged to the fourth upper side wall panel to form a side and top panel subassembly for the box when in an erected condition, the side and top panel sub-assembly being foldable into a collapsed condition and removable from the three erected upper side wall panels to facilitate on- and offloading of the cargo from the erected stillage components within the box.
In an alternative preferred form of the invention, the top panel is detachably mounted to the fourth upper side wall panel by means of the L-shaped clips engaging with corresponding mounting slots formed towards the upper edge of the fourth upper side wall panel.
Preferably, the fourth upper side wall panel is provided with L-shaped drop-away clips which are detachably mountable to corresponding mounting slots defined in the opposed upper end wall panels to allow the fourth front upper side wall panel to be xe2x80x9cpiggy-backedxe2x80x9d onto the operatively rear upper side wall panel when the rear upper side and end wall panels are in the erected position, with the fourth upper side wall panel typically being arranged to be sandwiched between the rear erected upper side wall panel and the top panel.
Conveniently, corresponding mounting slots are formed in the lower side wall panels for receiving the free ends of L-shaped clips carried on the fourth upper side wall panel when the box is in the collapsed stillage stowing position.
Typically, the fourth upper side wall panel is arranged to be sandwiched between the folded down subjacent upper end wall panels and the superjacent lid panel when the box is in the collapsed stillage stowing position.
Preferably, at least some of the stillage components are detachably mountable to the base panel, the base panel being formed with stillage locating and mounting formations for mounting the stillage components in the erected condition.
At least some of the stillage components may also or alternatively be hingedly mounted to the base or side wall panels, the stillage components being movable between the erected article stowing condition and collapsed or disassembled condition which they are housed within the sub-box.
Typically, those stillage components or parts thereof which do not project beyond the internal height of the closed sub-volume are mounted permanently to the base panel.
Conveniently, at least some of the lower side wall panels are detachably clipped to the base panel by means of L-shaped clips.
Preferably, the base panel forms part of a base pallet assembly including a plurality of skid planks supporting the base panel on a plurality of pallet blocks, the skid planks including locating means and the top panel including complemental locating means for enabling both the erected boxes and the sub-boxes to be stacked on top of one another in an aligned configuration.
Advantageously the locating means comprise glide bosses fitted to the operatively outer surface of the top panel and complemental boss-locating recesses defined in the under surfaces of the skid planks.
Typically, the operatively front lower side wall panel and the opposed operatively rear lower side wall panel are fitted with support blocks for supporting the intervening upper side wall panels when in the folded down position, the front and rear lower side wall panels being at least a panel thickness higher than the intervening lower side wall panels for enabling the rear lower side panel to be folded down over the intervening upper side wall panels.
By the term xe2x80x9cstillage componentsxe2x80x9d is meant all reusable stillage and dunnage components used to support and cushion cargo within the box.